A CONVICTED child sex offender is being allowed to live only 20 yards from a busy North Wales primary school.

Robert Long was sentenced to three years in prison last year for child sex offences, and was released in the summer.

And even though he is not allowed near a child on his own, he has, shockingly , been allowed to return to his home only yards from a primary school playground in Rhyl.

He lives less than half-a- mile from where his victims live, although all are now grown up.

They told the Daily Post last night they were "shocked and upset" that no-one told bothered to tell them Long was living nearby until after his release.

The Daily Post has decided not to print Long&#x2019;s address nor the name of the primary school involved, although the school is now aware of Long&#x2019;s release.

The chairperson of governors, who did not know of Long&#x2019;s case before being contacted by the Daily Post, last night said there had been "a fundamental breakdown in communication" over the case.

Long, now 75, was jailed last year after being found guilty of sex acts against children, with some offences dating back four decades.

He was placed on the sex offenders register for life and was told that, on his release, he could not stay in a house or car with a child unless accompanied by the child&#x2019;s parent.

Long had denied indecent assault and claimed the victims were liars.

One girl had been indecently assaulted by him between 1962 and 1970.

The offences stopped but he started indecently assaulting a boy under 10, now an adult, between 1983 and 1989.

It was claimed Long tempted the boy into a garden shed on the pretext of seeing a bat asleep there.

He was told to keep quiet so as not to wake the bat and would be indecently assaulted in silence.

On other occasions he was taken into an understairs cupboard where again he would be indecently assaulted.

The woman told police when she was a girl he would read her Alice in Wonderland but touch her under her clothes and kiss her, telling her it was their secret, the prosecution claimed.

Even though the offences stopped a long time ago, the probation service regarded him as a risk of causing serious harm to children at the time of his trial.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released two weeks ago, 18 months early.

When confronted by the Daily Post, Long&#x2019;s wife, speaking for him, maintained his innocence.

She added: "The judge said he would have a smaller sentence if he pleaded guilty, but he wouldn&#x2019;t because he didn&#x2019;t do it. The school knew about this. When it was all happening, the police went round there to explain.

"The probation service and the police know he is here and don&#x2019;t think there is a problem, so why should anybody else?"

The chairperson of the school&#x2019;s governors, who has experience in social services and childcare, said: "The one thing that strikes me here is &#x2013; who made the decision to locate him so near to the school?

"I would think common sense would prevail and the authorities realised it wasn&#x2019;t acceptable to put him so close to so many pupils.

"Kids are in the playground for hours on end, and with him being so close, they would have to pass the house to go to or from school.

"Where is the safety net for the community and for the children in this community?

"If anything was to happen, God forbid, who would stand up and say &#x2018;I made the decision and will carry the can for what has happened&#x2019;?

" I can bet my bottom dollar nobody would stand up.

"There has been a fundamental breakdown in communication here if we were not told of his release. The feeling I get is that the authorities will tell us when they feel it is safe to tell us.

"I will be speaking to the headmaster as a matter of priority on Monday morning, firstly to make sure he is aware.

"And if he was not aware, we need to conduct our own examinations as to why we were not told of this man&#x2019;s release."

One parent of a seven-year- old girl said: "It&#x2019;s the first I have heard of this.

"I can understand why people need to be housed, you can&#x2019;t just keep them all in prison for ever.

"But why on earth is he being allowed to walk past my daughter&#x2019;s school whenever he wants? God knows how close he&#x2019;s been to her without me knowing.

"Were the police hoping we&#x2019;d never find out about him? Did they think we&#x2019;d feel safer if we didn&#x2019;t know? I want to know why we&#x2019;ve not been told by anyone, whether he&#x2019;s a danger or not."

Long&#x2019;s victims, when contacted by the Daily Post, said they were "shocked and upset" they were told he had been released after he was back in the community.

One victim said: "We knew he had been released, but we were only told he was back in Rhyl after he&#x2019;d come back.

"What if we&#x2019;d bumped into him in the street? What if we&#x2019;d seen him by accident? I can&#x2019;t imagine how difficult that would have been."

Neither of the victims would comment further.

A North Wales police spokeswoman said they could not comment on individual cases like Long&#x2019;s.

But the force confirmed full assessments of a sex offender&#x2019;s situation are continuously conducted.

A spokeswoman said: "Sex offenders are risk-assessed and managed according with legislation and are considered under Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa)."

A North Wales Probation Service spokesman said: "While we can&#x2019;t comment on individual cases, all releases are done under Mappa guidelines and all agencies involved share responsibility for the management of the risk."